Design

Second Annual R+D Awards

Architecture has evolved, judging from the winners of our second annual R+D Awards. Witness a façade that breathes, a recycling network based on the human intestinal tract, an exterior lighting system inspired by photosynthesis, and other such wonders. If

The Jury (left to right): Chris Genik - A co-founder of Daly Genik Architects in Santa Monica, Calif., Genik has taught at institutions including the Art Center College of Design and the Southern California Institute of Architecture, where he is undergraduate program director; Blaine Brownell - A visiting professor in sustainable design at the University of Michigan, Brownell is also the founder of Transstudio, a firm devoted to materials reearch and awareness. He is the author of 'Transmaterial' and 'Transmaterial 2' (Princeton Architectural Press); Andres Lepik - Curator of contemporary architecture at New York's Museum of Modern Art, Lepik has written and edited several books, including 'Skyscrapers' (Prestel) and a monograph of Berlin-based Barkow Leibinger Architects (Hatje Cantz Verlag)

Credit: Mike Morgan

The jurors began the selection process with a discussion of what the criteria should be. They decided that the ideal entry should offer both a compelling hypothesis and research that led to an equally compelling answer. Sounds simple, and suitably scientific. But so many of the entries asked such provocative questions, and provided such provocative answers, that, in the fever of discussion, some of the jury members nearly missed their flights home. At the end of the day, five entries emerged as award-winners and four projects as citation-winners. All nine demonstrate that architectural technology is alive and well—and evolving in remarkable ways.

What began as an exercise in designing a new recycling kiosk for downtown Denver became a larger meditation on the solid waste collection systems of modern cities, resulting in the design of a large-scale system for moving waste.

The problem of corrosion in precast concrete is often attributed to the steel rebar reinforcement; steel being a corrodible material, it is especially vulnerable during the curing and drying process, when it is locked into an environment that is very wet.

One of Columbia University's newest facilities has a very specialized purpose: the storage and conservation of projection slides, a staple of art history and archaeology instruction. In this project, architects Marble Fairbanks created an enclosure for th